


the way to her heart

by that_one_urchin



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Roommates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 10:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26850109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_one_urchin/pseuds/that_one_urchin
Summary: It’s no big secret that sugar is the way to the Saltzman twins’ hearts. Hope must know this, because she gladly slides the plate across the counter and into Josie’s greedy hands.Josie takes a bite and yep, yeah, she might have to propose to this woman. This is a marriage pie.
Relationships: Hope Mikaelson/Josie Saltzman
Comments: 40
Kudos: 433





	the way to her heart

**Author's Note:**

> I got bored so here u go

Two weeks after Landon Kirby dumps Josie and, by extension, more or less kicks her out of their previously shared apartment, Josie decides to crash at Lizzie’s place.

Lizzie is all for having Josie around. College life is hard but much easier to handle with a twin.

_(“Mi casa es su casa.” Lizzie says, tossing her extra set of keys to Josie. “I’m happy to assist with your escape from the emo muppet boy.”)_

The first thing Josie notices about the apartment is that most of the decorations are clearly Lizzie’s (fashion magazines, a Rihanna poster, perfectly fluffed pink pillows), and that her roommate still hasn’t put much of a spin on the place. Josie has not stepped foot in the building since she helped Lizzie move in, so the shift from vacant rooms to Saltzman levels of decorating is almost jarring.

Josie also hasn’t had a chance to introduce herself to Lizzie’s roommate - Hope. Of course, Josie has heard things about the mystery that is Hope Mikaelson—

_“Hope takes showers like she’s in the middle of a fucking shampoo commercial.”_

_“Sometimes, Hope smells like a wet dog.”_

_“Hope’s parents are loaded.”_

—but she hasn’t actually seen her, since Hope’s Instagram is private and Josie’s meager attempts at stalking had failed.

The second thing Josie notices is that there is a humongous TV in the living room and a She-ra and the Princess of Power box set that includes all five seasons. Spotting it is like being handed a thousand Christmas presents. Josie’s little heart nearly bursts at the sight of it. She’s ready to sit her pansexual ass down on the couch and pound through a show with some decent representation.

And, Josie is definitely not opposed to spending the majority of her afternoon crushing on pretty, buff, women - no matter how animated they may be.

So, she binges.

Josie eats up all of Lizzie’s popcorn and then all of her chocolate while she descends into cartoon bliss. She fills her stomach and simultaneously fills the gaping hole in her heart Landon left. The only thing she keeps her paws off of is the food that’s marked _Hope_ , because she is trying to be respectful of a stranger’s property but also because everything Hope has seems to be either meat-based or filled with protein powder.

Josie is a vegetarian and protein powder is… not great.

She orders a veggie pizza after eating half the fridge and has most of a slice in her mouth when she glances to her right and realizes that another person has joined her. Josie coughs and chokes on a long string of cheese, sputtering uselessly.

“Ah, burglar!” Josie yelps, tossing one of Lizzie’s Vogue magazines at the stranger in the doorway.

Josie misses by about a mile.

Oh no. She’s going to be kidnapped.

It dawns on her, seconds later, that she actually wouldn’t mind being whisked away by the other girl. The mysterious stranger is both undeniably gorgeous and scary-looking (although that might be Josie’s type), with a tensed, sharp jawline and a pair of piercing blue eyes that are firmly set on Josie right now. Unfortunately, Josie is too caught up in her quickly-growing fantasy of being swept into strong arms and carried away, because the girl - while short in stature - has _muscles_.

Muscles that are currently on display, since the girl is also shirtless, sweaty, and looks like some kind of sexy gym rat—

“Who are you?” The stranger asks, forcing Josie to stop ogling her.

Josie immediately feels guilty for checking her out so blatantly, especially when she hates when others do that to her. MG would probably berate her for her obvious leering.

She pries her eyes away and her gaze dips down to the stranger’s long, long fingers, which have a shiny set of keys trapped between them.

Oh.

Lizzie’s roommate.

Hope.

“Shit. Sorry.” Josie straightens, blushing furiously, all while trying to wipe the pizza grease off of her hands so she can manage a proper handshake without embarrassing herself. “I’m Josie. Lizzie’s sister. She gave me a key.”

Hope’s surprise must fade away, because she closes the door and enters the room with a nod.

“Lizzie mentioned you.” She says, her voice stiff and awkward and all-around intimidating. She’s so pretty, Josie can barely make eye contact. “I’m Hope.”

“Yeah, Lizzie mentioned you.”

Hope winces. “Not good things, I assume?”

“She didn’t do you justice.” Josie replies through a giggle and waves her offered hand, wanting Hope to take it before it gets weird.

Thankfully, Hope accepts the handshake.

It’s a bit gross.

Hope is sweaty and Josie is greasy and their hands meet for an uncomfortable three seconds before Hope is saying something about needing a shower and Josie is pointing finger-guns at the back of Hope’s head.

That’s all it should be. An awkward few minutes of Josie’s life that she can tuck away with all of the other mortifying moments in her life.

That’s all it should be, and yet, when Josie is met with the faint sounds of Hope showering in the other room, her mouth goes dry and she finds it oddly hard to swallow another mouthful of pizza. She lasts for about half an episode before she pulls out her phone to rapidly type and send a text to Lizzie.

**Josie** : why didn’t u tell me that ur roommate is ridiculously pretty

**Josie** : i was ambushed

**Josie** : help

**Lizzie** : u really need to get out more

She really does.

-

Hope emerges from the bathroom looking softer and a lot less threatening than before, her hair a shade darker due to it still being wet. She pads over to the couch with ultra quiet footsteps and stops right near Josie, not blocking the television or actually sitting down, but instead just hovering.

Josie thinks back on something Lizzie said about Hope being a lurking, antisocial loner.

That’s a tad harsh, but well… accurate.

“Do you want a slice?” Josie breaks the silence, determined to not make things awkward between them while Lizzie is still at work.

At first, Josie isn’t sure if she should offer. She got a glimpse of Hope’s abs earlier and is pretty sure the girl lives off of a diet of protein shakes and salad, but she also catches the hungry look Hope sends to the box of pizza.

Hope nods. “Sure. Thank you.”

A smile plays on Josie’s mouth. It only grows as Hope wolfs down half of her slice and joins Josie on the couch, silent and far away but _there_.

Josie glances at the TV screen and blushes, now remembering that she is watching a kid’s show.

“I can change it if you want.” She offers.

To her surprise, Hope shakes her head and sinks further into the couch, releasing this tired yawn that rivals puppies and baby seals on the cute scale. For a second, she swears Hope appears no older than twelve, though she must be at least in her twenties. She just looks so soft and squishy that Josie’s heart does an involuntary flip.

Landon Kirby who?

“No, it’s fine.” Hope waves her off, firmly sealing the deal of being one of the most attractive people on the planet. “We’re just getting to the redemption arch.”

Her heart is basically crying out to her right now, singing _Josie’s got a crush, haha, haha._

“Okay.” Josie turns up the volume.

Haha, indeed.

-

Over the course of the next couple weeks, Josie gets comfortable with Hope being an ‘antisocial loner’. When Hope lurks, she lurks big time. She stands around near Josie silently and surprises her with her quiet footsteps more times than she can count, and Josie really only spends a month and a half crashing on their couch.

It’s a lot and also not a lot, because Hope rarely ever says a sentence to her with more than four words.

For example, when Josie asks if it’s okay for her to move in permanently and start paying rent, all Hope says is: _“I’m cool with it.”_

Four words.

Technically, there’s a contraction in there so one could count it as five, but Josie won’t.

It makes Josie wonder if Hope isn’t actually cool with it, because she swears she catches Hope death-glaring her on multiple occasions (not that she hates having Hope’s eyes on her), but Lizzie assures her that that’s just what Hope’s face looks like. Josie isn’t completely convinced, but as aforementioned, she gets comfortable with it.

Gets comfortable with Hope.

Hope, who joins her on the couch whenever she decides to watch cartoons. Hope, who asks her if she’s alright whenever she accidentally stumbles or trips over something. Hope, who may be a bit of a lurker, but is also slowly becoming Josie’s friend.

Josie makes plans to set her crush aside. She decides it would be bad to want Hope when they are entering the early stages of friendship and, more importantly, roommate-hood.

What if Hope brings someone home?

What if she notices Josie’s pining?

It wouldn’t turn out well at all and Josie definitely isn’t about that sad, unrequited crush life. Nope.

But then, Hope starts feeding her.

It’s little things at first. Hope tosses her a granola bar in passing, brings her bags of chips on their Saturday movie nights, and will occasionally pick up a protein powder-less smoothie for her from the gym. Sometime in March, Hope disappears to New Orleans for a week and comes back with these glorious doughy treats called beignets.

They have to heat them up in the oven for a bit, but they are as groundbreaking and perfect as Hope herself.

Josie tells her so.

_“These are—“ Josie pauses to kiss Hope’s cheek before she can lose her nerve. “Perfect.”_

_Hope is as cute as ever, tripping over her words to get out a quiet thank you. Lizzie doesn’t stop rolling her eyes for the rest of the day._

Then, there’s the day Josie walks into the kitchen and finds Hope setting a steaming, apple (Josie’s favorite) pie on the counter. It smells absolutely amazing and Josie makes her presence known by sighing loudly, which earns her a startled look from Hope.

“Sorry, I’m hungry.” Josie murmurs bashfully.

“It’s fine.” Hope busies herself by getting a short stack of plates. “This is for you, actually. I know you like apple pie.”

“Oh.”

Her crush comes barreling back with full force.

While Josie watches Hope cut her a giant slice of pie and set it down on a plate, Lizzie strolls into the room and basically makes love to the dessert with her eyes. Josie feels the exact same. It’s no big secret that sugar is the way to the Saltzman twins’ hearts. Hope must know this, because she gladly slides the plate across the counter and to Josie’s greedy hands.

Josie takes a bite and _yep, yeah,_ she might have to propose to this woman. This is a marriage pie.

It’s _heavenly_.

Lizzie charges at the poor pie like a madwoman but Hope stops her last minute.

“Who said it’s for you?” Hope teasingly pokes the blonde with the dull end of a knife. “Maybe it’s all for her.”

Josie nearly melts a second time.

A pretty girl with a knife possessively defending her pie? Josie is so down.

Still, Josie doesn’t want a murder along with her slice, so she leans forward over the counter and stretches her arm out far enough to wrap around Hope’s waist and yank her backwards, safely out of Lizzie’s way.

“It’s really good, Hope.” She whispers into Hope’s ear, maybe holding her a little too close.

Hope immediately turns beet red.

“T-Thank you, Jo.”

-

Part of Josie’s attempt at adulting includes trying to take super cold showers in the morning, since a health magazine (courtesy of Lizzie) told her that it’s good for… something.

Whatever.

Josie is doing it. It’s way earlier than she usually wakes up and she’s cold as hell, but it’s going to be done.

“Shit. Shit—“ Josie yelps at the first touch of freezing water. “ _Cold_.”

This continues for a solid few more minutes until Josie eventually stops being a baby and shoves herself under the spray. She curses like a sailor, but manages to stay still. There is definitely an adjustment period, where Josie feels as if she is going to either somehow get frostbite or freeze to death, but soon enough the temperature feels a bit less severe and she is able to start washing her body.

Josie is in the middle of shaving when someone knocks on the door, causing her to nearly slice her ankle open.

“Not the time, Lizzie!” Josie yells, surprised her sister hasn’t just barged in like usual.

“It’s not Lizzie.” Hope calls. Oh. That makes more sense. Josie tentatively sets the razor down, not wanting to cause further damage to her legs. “I just need to grab my running shoes.”

Yeah, they’ve gotten pretty comfortable recently, but not naked-comfortable.

(Unfortunately.)

“Okay!” Josie wraps her arms around her chest, even though there’s a shower curtain to protect her modesty.

Hope is quick about coming inside, but not about leaving. Josie sees Hope’s shadow move across the bathroom and hears the faint sound of Hope fiddling with her shoes, but she never hears the door close. She waits a moment before curiously peeking her head out from around the curtain and spotting Hope, on the floor, trying to untie the triple knot Lizzie sometimes likes to tie Hope’s laces into to mess with her.

“Hope?”

“Sorry, sorry.” Hope mumbles in a rush, sounding oddly flustered. “I don’t mean to like… _linger_.”

Josie has the urge to retreat behind her curtain because she is naked and Hope is right there, but she also can’t stop herself from smiling at the slight furrow between Hope’s brows.

Hope’s frustration is written all over her face. “I just need a second.”

“Come here.” Josie stretches out her arm.

“ _What_?”

“Come here, I’ll untie them for you.”

Hope nods shortly, all of a sudden resembling the same awkward girl she was when they first met, and crosses the room to hand Josie the tangled shoes. She keeps her eyes respectively pointed at the ceiling the whole time.

Josie works the knot open with careful fingers and when she glances up, Hope’s pale skin is now rosy. It’s a pretty color.

“Here.” She passes them back once she’s done.

Hope smiles. “Thanks.”

The next thing Josie knows, Hope is sprinting out the door like she is already in the middle of her run. It’s a bit bizarre, but who is Josie to question the actions of athletic people? She decides to not dwell on it, despite the low warmth that seems to come with interacting with Hope while naked, and finishes her shower up quickly. Josie towels off and pulls on a sweater before going out into the hall.

Surprisingly, Hope is standing right outside the door, curled up on the ground like a dog.

“Do you want to go out sometime?” Hope blurts, stammering only seconds later. “With clothes this time. Or without clothes? _Crap_. That sounded so pervy. I just mean… I just—“

“Yeah.”

Hope’s cheeks flame red. “Yeah?”

Josie smiles, taken aback by the hopeful, almost shy expression on Hope ‘Incredibly Intimidating and Good-looking’ Mikaelson’s face. She steps closer, her smile stretching at Hope’s visible (and adorable) gulp. She stops once there is a fair amount of distance between them, because the surprised, deer-in-headlights look Hope is giving her makes Josie think Hope needs a breather.

“Yeah.”

**Author's Note:**

> Come talk to me on Twitter if u want @thatoneurchin


End file.
